New Delhi, India
Sri Lanka defeated England by eight wickets in match 25 of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 edition on Thursday (Oct 26) at the M Chinnaswammy Stadium in the south Indian city of Bengaluru. With this heavy defeat, the defending champions England are now on the brink of elimination as the 2019 winners have only one win from five games. The entire clash displayed England's ordinary performance as they bundled out for 156 in 33.2 overs as the Lankans chased down the score in 25.4 overs with fifties from Pathum Nissanka (77*) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65*).
During the game, stand-in captain Kusal Mendis produced a moment of brilliance to outfox English spinner Adil Rashid and run him out for 2.
It happened during the 32nd over when Maheesh Theekshana was operating from the bowler's end. In the last ball of the over, Theekshana bowled it down the leg side, to David Willey, as it was a wide when Mendis collected the ball and caught Rashid out of the crease. Hence, he targetted the stumps and hit the wicket with Rashid well out of the crease. The video of the run-out has gone viral with many hailing the Sri Lankan captain's presence of mind.
Here is the video:
*What a run-out! ?*
*Incredible presence of mind from Kusal Mendis ?*
*#CWC23 #ENGvSL* pic.twitter.com/NuJy3qHWLP
— Muhammad Shafi (@mshafi001001) October 26, 2023
Talking about the English batting, Jos Buttler & Co. never applied themselves in the middle as Lahiru Kumara (3 for 35) and twin strikes each from Kasun Rajitha and Angelo Mathews dented their progress.
Ben Stokes (43) was the only batter to show some resistance. Dawid Malan (28) and Jonny Bairstow (30) led England to a 45-run opening stand before they were soon bundled out for 156. In reply, the Islanders chased down the target with an unbroken 137-run third-wicket stand between Samarawickrama and Nissanka.
With another big defeat, England's campaign is going nowhere and they have closed closer to an early elimination.
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